Pow! Pow! Pau Bhaji

Today’s post was going to be something sweet, something deviously sweet. But after the Valentines post I thought it would be really wrong to post another dessert recipe. Sinfully wrong. So you get pau bhaji. Sorry. Okay I’m not sorry, I love pau bhaji; it’s a classic and a favourite at special occasions.

Like raghda patties, pau bhaji is a popular street dish from Maharashtra (those Maharashtrians really know how to rock snack food, huh?) Pau bhaji literally means bread curry. Before you start gagging, it’s not a curry made out of bread; it’s pretty much a spiced vegetable stew served with bread rolls. Hearty fare indeed. I once read somewhere that the longer you cook your bhaji, the better it tastes. I bet that’s true. But sadly I don’t have all the time in the world to stand at the cooker, stirring my bhaji. I adore pau bhaji with plenty of butter, but my thighs seem to disagree. I add only a little butter during cooking (and a little to serve) in order to save around three hours playing the Hula Hoop game on the Wii Fit Plus to burn all of those pesky calories off. I’ve made my own pau (bread) for the benefit of greed you wonderful readers. If you haven’t got the time to make your own bread then just buy ready made (there’s really no problem with shop-bought buns), just remember to toast them a little before serving.

Recently I’ve become really wary about ordering pau bhaji from restaurants. The last couple of times I’ve ordered it it’s been really bland and tasteless. The religion of ‘pau bhajists’ (followed by pau bhaji loonies such as myself) states that the bhaji should be the antithesis of ordinary when it comes to flavour. For this reason I’ve added lots of spice (please don’t faint when you see my ingredients list- it’s all really worth it. If you don’t have some of the spices it’s fine- just leave them out). Please enjoy this pau bhaji recipe with your family and friends (over and over again). Just don’t forget the butter! Unless you have high blood pressure. Then just forget the butter.

1. Heat the oil in a large, wide pan and gently fry the onions until they’re translucent. Add the garlic, ginger, chillies, mustard seeds (wait for them to pop), cumin seeds, asafoetida and tomato puree. Cook on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.

2. Add the mixed vegetables and cook for 10 minutes with around a cup of water. Remove from the heat and transfer to a blender and pulse three or four times until roughly pureed.

3. Return to the heat and add -1 ½ cups of water, the potatoes and chickpea puree and season with salt, sugar and lemon juice. Simmer until most of the water has evaporated and the bhaji has thickened.

Well, I will definitely want to make that bread, I can practically smell it through your gorgeous photo. Bread is my weakness. And I actually have almost every ingredient on your list! This is why things are always falling out of my spice cupboard. : ( Beautiful dish, and the colors in your photos are incredibly appetizing. Mmmm.

Lovely clicks Sanjana…as usual I can see that you haven't used pau bhaji masala… but used the spices separately. I always use the ready made spice mix, but yours looks just perfect. Will try your recipe for sure.

Sanjana, this looks fantastic! We ate at a Gujarati restaurant here in Houston this weekend, and honestly just about ate ourselves sick. Everything was perfectly seasoned, vegetarian, and delicious. I wish you had been with us to give us all the secrets behind the amazing food we ate!

My fav street food too.. Who doesnt like it btw? I mean lots of people in this world are pau-bhajists and pani-purist!! Loved ur presentation, as always… Wanted to have this for a long time now, today I am off buy the buns..